Door-controlling mechanism for elevators



Nov. 20, 1928.

J. RICE DOOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATORS Filed July 14, 1926Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED sTAT s PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH RICE, or onions-o, ILLIiNOIS AssIeNoB; r'o ELEVATOR COMPANY orAMER- ICA, or cmeneo, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

DOOR-CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR ELEVATORS.

Application filed July 14,

My invention relates to door controlling mechanism for elevators and hasfor its obfeet the provision of improved means for preventing theopening of hatch doors unless the elevator is in proper position to bealigned with the door which is to be opened.

My invention concerns itself primarily with the provision or means inwhich a downwardly moving element carried by the car is adapted tostrike the door controlled mechanism in its path when said controllingelement is in its actuating positiondue to the fact that the car is notunder headway.

My invention concerns itself with an improved mechanism which provides asub stantially rather unyielding well backed abutment which is adaptedto actuate the various door locking mechanisms with which it may comeinto contact, which door locking mechanisms are mounted in the hatchway.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a sliding abutment ofthe character which is so arranged that its" operation may be noiseless.

I will describe one form which my invention may take more in detail byreferring to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig; 1 shows afrag'mentairy' portion of an elevator car having improveddevice in position and shown as cooperating with a door controlledmechanism Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on lines 22 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic circuit arrangemeat for illustrating theelectrical features involved.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, I show a car 10 whichisprovided} with my improved movable abutment 11 which abutment isadapted to be either in the limiting position shown in Fig. 1 or in aretracted position whenever it is drawn into that retracted position byane'lectro-m a'gnet' 12 also provided uponthe car; The abutment- 11 j isdesigned to cooperate witha door controlled mechanism consisting" ofalever 13, there being such a lever together with with its accompanyingparts" at each floor level for each hatch door. The lever 13 is pivotedupon a stem 14 and carries a roller 15 which cooperates with the shoes16 provided upon the abutment 11. The 1'? semen-1y pushes the lever 1a1926. Serial No 122,368.

against an adjustable stop 18. The lever 13 through the agency ofinstrumentalities, which it is not thought necessary to illustrate orexplain herein, controls a suitable lock so that when the lever 13 is inthe .position shown in Fig. 1, the corresponding door may be opened. Iton the contrary the lever 13' is in this alternative position when itstail piece 19 rests against the stop 18, then the corresponding door islocked and cannot be opened.

The magnet 12 may for instance be included near the general controlcircuit through the agency of which the car is operated which controlcir'cuit'is shown in Fig. 3 as receiving its current from the generator20, and which control circuit is controlled by the handle 21 in the car.Thus, whenever the car is operated as when the lever 21 is inassociation with the contact posts 22, 23, 24 or the like, then themagnet 12 is energized, but should the power which operates the car beoff, then the magnet 12* is deenergized. Whenever the magnet 12 isenergized .itraises the abutments 11 and when it is" deenergized', itpermits it to fall into the position shown in Fi 1.

From this it will be clear that so long as the car is passing thevarious floors, the current being on, that the abutment 12 is retractedand does not touch the various rollers 15 which it passes.- Sh'ould theoperator, however, when he is about to arrive at a floor, turn'ofl thecurrent, then the abutment 11 drops and is inposition to' actuate theroller 15 corresponding to that particular fl'oo'r at which the car isto stop.

In the diagrammatic illustration of Fig. 3, the conductors 25 and 26-lead to the motor actuating mechanism which actually moves the car. Thedrawing of Fig. 3' is to be taken purely for illustrative purpose toshow the general relationship of the magnet 12 and is notto beunderstood as setting forth any particular circuit for controllingthe'car. My invention as above stated concerns itself primarily with theconstruction, arrangement, mounting, and manner of operating theabutment 1-1 The abutment 11 consists in addition to the shoe 16 of theplat'e s'hapcd slide 27 which on one sideslide s in the U grooveprovided in the bearing'element 28 ancl has sliding enga ement at" itsother side with a T-shaped groove provided in the bearing element 29.For this purpose the slide 27 has a T shaped extremity 30 at its oneside, all of which is more clearly ap parent from Fig. 2. lhe bearings28 and 29 are preferably held together through the agency of the back 31and are suitably mounted upon a strip 3 provided upon the car 10 throughthe agency of the bolts 83 and 34:.

It will thus be seen that the slide 27 has a movement which is slightlyinclined from the vertical. The advantage of this is that the weight ofthe slide together with its shoe and other cooperating parts may have amaterial influence in providing the necessary stability, and it willalso be seen that the bearing portion 29 backs up the slide in a linewhich is only slightly inclined from a line at right angle to the thrustaction by the rollers 15. The bearing portion 29 thus amply backs up theslide 27 against the pres sure of the roller 15. A stop 35 may beprovided for precautionary purpose and it is also desirable to provide aplate 36 at the upper extremity of the bearing portions 28 and 29 whichplate prevents the. slide 27 from slipping upwardly beyond its properposition and also furnishes a bearing for the stem 37 which stem issecured to the said slide 27. The stem 37 is by means oi the eye 38 andthe chain 89 connected to a lever l0 which lever at its oppositeextremity is connected to the plunger 41 cooperated with the solenoid12.

In order to provide a noiseless operation, I provide certain bufferswhich prevent the clattering noise usually due to the locking parts whenmoved and brought into contact.

To this end I provide a buffer spring 42 which prevents a too greatretraction of the slide 27 and 1 provide a further butler spring 43which acts to prevent the clattering which might be due to the plunger41 and its associated parts. These springs serve as buffers althoughthey do not limit the actual movement of the moving parts. I

From what has thus been described, the nature of my invention will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art and it will also beunderstood that modifications may be made from the specific disclosureherein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described one form which my invention may take, what I claimas new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a door control apparatus for ele vators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoorrelease position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, and electro-magnetic means adapted to retract said slide.

2. In a door'control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a .movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, electro-magnetic means adapted to retract said slide, anddouble acting butters to deaden the noise due to the moving of saidabutment structure.

3. In a door control apparatus for elovators, the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mounteds as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, electro-magnetic means adapted to retract said slide, anddouble acting spring buiiers to deaden the noise due to the moving partsof said abutment structure. 4

a. In a door control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, guides for said slide, and electro-magnetic means adapted toretract said slide,

5. In afdoor control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the actionof gravity into its actuatingposition, guides for said slide, electro-magnetic means adapted toretract said slide, and double acting buffers todeaden the noise due tothe moving parts of said abutment structure.

6. In a door control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said parts door control mechanismhaving an element adapted when said abutment structure is in itsactuating position to be moved by said structure into its door-releaseposition, saidabutment structure including a slide mounted so as to fallwhen released, by the action of gravity into its actuating position,guides for said slide, one of said guides being substantially T-shaped,electro-magnetic means adapted to retract said slide, and double actingbuffers to deaden the noise due to the moving parts of said abutmentstructure.

8. In a door control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, guides for said slide, one of said guides being substantiallyT-shaped, stops provided in association with said guides to limit themovement of said slide, and electro-magnetic means adapted to retractsaid slide.

9. In a door control apparatus for elevators the combination with anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide mountedso as to fall when released, by the action of gravity into its actuatingposition, guides for said slide, one of said guides being substantiallyT-shaped, stops provided in association with said guides to limit themovement of said slide, electro-magnetic means adapted to retract saidslide, and double acting buffers to deaden the noise due to the movingparts of said abutment structure.

10; In a door control apparatus for elevators the combination With anelevator car having a movable abutment structure, of door controlmechanism having an element adapted when said abutment structure is inits actuating position to be moved by said structure into itsdoor-release position, said abutment structure including a slide adaptedto slide into its actuating position along a line slightly inclined tothe vertical, and electro-magnetic means adapted to retract said slide.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 21st day of. June,A. D. 1926.

JOSEPH RICE.

